I'll Protect You
by RAWN89
Summary: What could possibly go wrong with Eggman's brilliant plan to go back in time to beat Sonic before he can become an unbeatable nuisance?
1. Prologue: Routine

**I'll Protect You** (by RAWN and Shaunatheboss)

 **Prologue: Routine**

A bang.

A crash.

An explosion.

And a string of colorful curses that spanned across several generations.

But this was the norm after each battle, as Sonic the Hedgehog emerged victorious once again and Eggman was left to suffer yet another humiliating defeat at the Mobian's hands.

The blue blur smiled and stuck out his tongue teasingly with a wink "Better luck next time, Egghead!" He then sped off searching for his next thrill and leaving the defeated doctor harking and coughing in a cloud of dust.

The human groaned as he got up, seated himself back in his Eggmobile and checked that it still seemed to be at least somewhat functional before turning it on and started on the long journey home.

His newest creation, which he had spent months on trying to perfect, was now only good for the junk pile as Sonic had literally reduced it to nothing but scrap in mere seconds.

As he continued on, he couldn't stop thinking about his rival. 'Why was it so darn important to that interfering hedgehog to always get in his way?!'

"If only there was a way to stop him once and for all. I wish he had never been born!" the human grumbled.

The doctor suddenly paused at that statement. 'Wait, of course! That's how I'll beat him!' Eggman thought to himself and then he hurried back to his base to put his new plan into action with a wide malicious grin.

* * *

 **Hi guys!**

 **It's been a few years since last time I did a fanfic and I know that some of you have been patiently waiting for me to write a new one, so hopefully you won't be disappointed with this new story co-written by yours truly and Shaunatheboss.**

 **Chapter 1 is pretty much done and will be posted sometime next week, meanwhile I hope you'll enjoy this little teaser of a prologue.**

 **Take care and keep on reading,**

 **RAWN**


	2. Chapter 1: Persuasion

**I'll Protect You** (by RAWN and Shaunatheboss)

 **Chapter 1: Persuasion**

A couple of weeks had passed since the fight and there was still no sign of the evil scientist. Sonic wasn't worried however. He was convinced that the doctor was merely working on some new robot that wasn't completed yet.

Eggman was indeed creating another invention. Only this time it wasn't a robot, but a doorway to another time.

"Finally! With this machine, I'll be rid of that blue nuisance!" He said triumphantly to himself.

He then typed in a few coordinates on his keyboard, hopped in his Eggmobile and flew in through the glowing doorway.

What he didn't know, however, was that someone else had snuck into his high tech base and had realized just how critical the situation was.

"I'd better warn the others." The person said in a sultry, feminine voice.

While Sonic the Hedgehog was away exploring, his best friend Tails was currently working on a new invention.

As he added the finishing touches to the invention, he then reached for a button as the final step. "Careful…" the young fox said to himself as he slowly clicked the button.

Outside the workshop, another anthropomorphic animal had just arrived. As she walked up to the door, she thought about the best way to explain this.

'Hmm, how will I get these boys to believe me? They don't even trust me as it is…and with good reason I might add'. An explosion suddenly came from the now smoking building. Worried, she rushed up and threw the door open but calmed down when she saw that the fox was unharmed and seemed to have everything under control. Tails had a fire extinguisher in his hand and was spraying foam to put out a few flames here and there in a manner casual enough to suggest that this was not the first time he had to handle a situation like this.

"Oh, hi, Rouge." He said as he saw the door opening. "Sorry, I'll be one minute, just leave the door open so we can clear out the smoke."

"No problem, sweetheart. But once you're done, we need to talk about something important."

Once the room had been deemed safe once again, Tails made two cups of tea and sat down with the white bat.

"Tails, we need to talk. I snuck into Eggman's base this morning to look for emeralds…"

At this statement, the fox gave her an exasperated look. The bat noticed his change in demeanor and got straight to the point. "…and I saw him working on a new invention. He said that it would help him get rid of Sonic forever. He went into it and disappeared so I used the opportunity to take a closer look at the machine," Rouge explained and added that she had also seen a computer displaying some coordinates which she had memorized and told the fox.

"Wait, stop! Say those coordinate again!" Tails suddenly announced.

As Rouge repeated the numbers, the fox instantly realized what they meant.

"I think Eggman has built a time portal! He must be trying to get rid of Sonic as a baby!"

"But shouldn't we warn Sonic about this? Maybe he can put a stop to-"

"No!" Tails instantly shouted, silencing Rouge. He then took a moment to calm down before continuing. "Time travel can be extremely complicated, Rouge. Even the slightest change can alter certain aspects. We shouldn't tell Sonic about this at all. Knowing him, he'd barge into the base, enter the time portal, probably save himself, cause a big commotion, and accidently cause a time paradox in the process, maybe erasing his own existence completely and literally doing Eggman's job for him!"

"There has to be a way to stop this. Every minute we're here, the worse the situation gets. I could go, but I'm not sure if I can stand up against Eggman on my own if I have to protect a baby at the same time."

"…Well…there is one thing..." Tails replied after a brief pause and noticed that the bat was listening intently. "We could probably send someone else with you, someone who wasn't present at that current time, someone strong enough to stop Eggman and knows not to draw attention…"

The two of them sat silently for a while, trying to think of a person that fit these conditions. After a moment of silence, the two of them just happened to reach the same conclusion at the same time.

"I'll call him and ask him to meet us outside Eggman's base," said Rouge while silently hoping that the person on the other end would be in a good mood.

"Absolutely not!"

It was pretty obvious that once said person was found, he would refuse the mission.

"But, you're the only one who can do this. After all, you weren't there at that time." Tails replied.

"That's because I was locked up in a capsule on Prison Island!"

"But Shadow, this is Sonic we're talking about. Wouldn't you miss all the fun races and battles you had together?"

The unfazed and unamused look from the ebony hedgehog would suggest 'no'.

"Come on, Shadow! What happened to that Ultimate Lifeform attitude you used to have?" Rouge asked.

"I already told you two… No! I'd rather have my quills ripped off than help that stupid hedgehog."

Tails and Rouge exchanged a worried look and thought hard about their next line. It was clear that Shadow was in no mood to help Sonic, but they had to persuade him somehow.

Tails was the first to try, "Shadow, please, if you do this for us I'll make sure Sonic doesn't bother you too often."

"Hmph!" The dark one grunted, dissatisfied with the offer.

Rouge then joined in, "Shadow, if you do this, I'll tell you where Eggman is hiding a Chaos Emerald."

"Fine then," Shadow said in a low voice. "But I'm not doing it for you, or for that Faker."

"Great. We don't have any time to lose we'll have to get into Eggman's base and give you a-"

Tails was cut short, because the black hedgehog instantly teleported all three of them to the other side of the base's entrance with the use of his own emerald "…quick briefing."

"So what do I need to know?" The Ultimate Lifeform asked.


	3. Chapter 2: Into the Past

**I'll Protect You** (by RAWN and Shaunatheboss)

 **Chapter 2: Into the Past**

After sneaking around the base stealthily, and avoiding all possible fights with the doctor's creations, the trio soon came across the human's lab and the still-opened portal door. It was soon clear to them that Eggman needed it open in order to return to this time again after completing his objective.

Tails quickly looked over the machines and monitors connected to the portal to try and figure out how it worked so he could operate it if necessary. He sat down in front of the main computer and started hacking through the security system to see if he could access more information.

"I don't know anything about Sonic's parents, but at least that's in our favor as neither does Eggman, which means he travelled back in time when the first recording of Sonic's location was made. When you go through the portal you'll be sent back at the exact same location as Eggman entered, but I'm not sure if you'll end up at the exact same time. You might arrive a few minutes earlier or later than him. In any case, you need to find Sonic and make sure he's safe, preferably without any direct contact, and catch Eggman and take him with you back to our time," the fox explained.

"So far, nothing has changed. If the doctor is changing anything in the past, wouldn't it already have taken effect?" Shadow inquired.

Tails turned to the screen and read out loud from one of the files "Whatever happens while the door between two timelines are open will take hold only when it closes", he turned his head back to the bat and hedgehog, "Sonic will be at the hospital at Christmas Island so if it's not already too late he uh…" Tails trailed off and his ears drooped for a moment, Rouge shot him a sympathetic look, before he managed to continue "…he'll be there. Just hurry through the portal. For all we know, the longer we're standing here the more time Eggman has to find him," he said urgently.

"We've got this covered, kiddo," Rouge said with as much confidence as she could muster before spreading her wings readying herself to fly through the time-portal. She looked at Shadow who gave a small nod to assure her that he too was ready to go, and then they both took off to their rescue mission in the past.

As Shadow and Rouge went through the portal, they could already feel the effects of it. They suddenly felt light-headed and their minds started to spin. After a few moments of this strange sensation they could smell fresh air and shortly after, they saw a bright, blue sky in front of them.

Rouge, who had flown through first, was also the first to notice that there was more about their new location that was different than them being outdoors and to her sudden dread she realized that her partner had leapt through the portal. She spun around as fast as she could, only to see that she was too late. She grimaced as she had just enough time to see Shadow landing face-first into the ground, which happened to be placed about 5 meters below the portal.

"Shadow! Honey. Are you okay?" She asked with concern as she flew down next to the mess of quills lying on the ground.

The response was some incoherent mumbling muffled by the earth, though Rouge suspected she didn't want him to repeat it and decided he was in good enough shape to stand up and helped him get up on his feet. Shadow brushed off the dust and fixed his disordered quills back to normal while keeping a straight face and ignoring the growing smile from his partner who started to see the humor in his less than graceful landing as soon as she knew nothing but his pride was harmed.

"I don't think I've been here before. Where do we go to find the faker?" Shadow asked while looking at his surroundings.

"Town's over there," the bat answered while pointing in the direction she knew Christmas Island's town would be in. "Shouldn't take us more than a few minutes to reach it".

"Then let's not waste any more time…" Shadow said as he picked up a map that he had discovered on the ground. It had a red circle around a building with a red cross on it "…looks like we're not the only time travelers around," he announced as he rolled up the map.

They soon reached said marked building. It was huge with several floors and hundreds of windows. Shadow looked around at all the people walking by and then turned to Rouge. "Ok, so how do we-"

As he spoke, a window on the fifth floor exploded. At the sound of this, several people screamed and ran away from the chaos. Shadow grunted as he protected his face. As he looked up, he saw the Eggmobile appear from the smoke and fly off. The dark one glanced at his partner. Upon seeing Rouge give a small nod, they set off, with the bat taking flight.

Shadow began skating, his hover shoes just keeping him above the ground and gaining serious momentum. He glided quickly in between buildings, sticking close to walls in order not to be seen by the doctor in his rear-view mirrors. Rouge, meanwhile stayed above the trees, keeping out of sight, until an opportunity exposed itself.

The Ultimate Lifeform noticed that there were crossroads ahead, indicating that there was a gap in the tree line. It was the perfect opportunity to strike. The dark one started to skate faster, while chaos energy was starting to build up in his left hand. Once they reached the roads, Shadow moved to the right of the vehicle, staying directly in the hovercraft's shadow and then launched a chaos spear into the body of the machine. With a loud explosion, the aircraft suddenly lurched to the left.

Eggman gave a startled yelp and once the machine recovered its balance, he glanced over the right side of his precious machine. Billows of black smoke bled out of the hovercraft. The doctor cursed under his breath, knowing that the repairs would take some time. He then returned to his seat and glanced over at the reason why he was here in the first place.

"WHAT?!" He screamed as he noticed that his prize had vanished from his seat. He quickly glanced around to see where it was.

"Thanks for the kid, Eggie!" Rouge teased once she knew that she'd been spotted with the bundle in her arms.

"Why you-!" Said human growled before aiming one of his laser guns at her. He then pressed the fire button multiple times.

Rouge immediately began dodging the laser beams, twisting and turning in the air as she desperately protected the bundle in her arms. She shrieked in pain as one of the beams hit part of her wing. She accidently dropped the bundle from the shock.

The Ultimate Lifeform leapt into the air and successfully caught the bundle before it hit the ground. Rouge regained her balance and sighed in relief at the sight of the bundle being safe in her partner's arms, she then gestured for him to go while she flew back up toward Eggmobile to distract Eggman. Before he could take a proper look at his catch, Shadow ran away before the doctor had time to figure out what had just happened. Once he found a narrow alleyway, he stopped to catch his breath and inspected the bundle that he was clutching. When he unwrapped the blanket, he noticed the cause of most of his aggravation in life. A month-old blue baby hedgehog that resembled Sonic in every single way was gazing up at him completely unscathed.

The little one blinked and rubbed his eyes as if he had been asleep the whole time and then squeaked happily to the older hedgehog's face when his eyes had adjusted to the light.

Shadow, however just stood there, absolutely stunned.

Of course, he had assumed Sonic would be younger, but he never imagined him to be a completely helpless baby.

"What have I gotten myself into?" the older hedgehog sighed as the little one gripped his long black nose.


	4. Chapter 3: Now What?

**I'll Protect You** (by RAWN and Shaunatheboss)

 **Chapter 3: Now what?**

"Guess I won't need to bother myself explaining the situation for you."

Shadow had not been looking forward to having to explain to a young and possibly even more hyper Sonic who he was and why a crazy scientist, he had never seen before, was out to get him for things he hadn't even done yet. Now that he knew that Sonic was too young to even say his own name, the older hedgehog was suddenly filled with a lot more concerns. The most prominent issue he could think of - what was he supposed to do with the tiny hedgehog? He had thought the mission would be a simple 'get Sonic out of harm's way, catch Eggman and bring him back to their own time,' but there was nothing 'simple' about the mission anymore. He didn't even know where to leave his blue little burden, who currently was busy trying to grab a hold of anything within the vicinity of his tiny hands.

He couldn't just return him back to the hospital. Eggman would expect that.

Once he believed that the coast was clear, he decided that it was best to see if he could find Rouge again. Surely, she had gotten away from the doctor by now.

Shadow grumbled as he started to walk down a street that would lead him in the general direction that he last had seen the bat. This was not part of the plan that they had come up with. He was deep in thought, until a squeak interrupted him. He then looked down at the young hedgehog, who smiled at the attention.

"I hate you," the older hedgehog muttered.

A shadow suddenly covered them. Had they been followed? The red striped hedgehog mentally prepared to twirl around to throw a chaos spear, but calmed down as he recognized the shape.

"Hi Rouge," he said casually without turning his head.

"How did you know it was me?" The bat asked as she landed gracefully next to him.

Of course, she knew very well how. She was just trying to coax her partner into saying 'your shadow'. Her partner had fallen for this quite a few times, to her amusement, but today all she got in response was a raised eyebrow.

"Not in the mood, huh?" She smiled apologetically, and then shifted her attention to the bundle he was carrying. "Aww, aren't you the sweetest little thing," she cooed at the curious emerald green eyes looking up at her. Sonic seemed to take an immediate liking to her and happily stretched his arms toward her, smiling and squeaking happily. Shadow handed him to Rouge who seemed more than eager enough to relieve him of the little burden.

"What do we do now? We need to catch Eggman and get him, and us, back to our time, but we need to get rid of the tiny faker here somehow first."

"You're not going to like this, but we can't return Sonic until we're sure he's safe from Eggman. We'll have to rent an apartment and get some supplies because we might have to stay a couple of days until we can figure out a new plan. Luckily, Tails gave me an ATM hacking device in case this would happen, so money won't be an issue at least."

"And what about our 'little' problem?" Shadow asked while gesturing toward the baby.

Rouge hesitated. "Well…we will just have to take care of him in turns. It'll slow us down, but we don't have much of a choice right now."

Shadow groaned at this statement and glared at Sonic, who was reduced to a fit of giggles as the bat tickled his soft, furry tummy.

Shadow and Rouge then set off with Sonic. Their first goal was to find an ATM. Once they found one, the bat typed in the codes that Tails had given her on a piece of paper and then typed in the amount they wanted to withdraw.

Once that was done, they went looking at apartments for rent around the city. After a few attempts, Shadow and Rouge both found a suitable apartment that was furnished and ready to move into. Shadow got the keys and unlocked the door. The apartment contained several comfy chairs and a large TV in the lounge room, a huge dining table and chairs in the kitchen along with several appliances. There was a spacious bathroom and two bedrooms with a king-sized bed in each. All this and there were still a few other rooms, like the study and utility room to explore. The separated kitchen and lounge area had huge windows to the outside world. And finally, there was a balcony outside to relax on.

The location was also extremely suitable for couples with families or for people who had their jobs nearby. A park was situated across the road and there were several shops along the street, consisting of pharmacies, super markets and, luckily, a baby store.

Both adult Mobians were exhausted. The time travel had taken some of their energy earlier, but running around with a child had also taken a toll. With a groan, Shadow slumped down in a very comfy-looking armchair, while still holding the young Sonic, who thankfully had been sleeping most of the time.

Rouge looked at him sympathetically, knowing that he spent a lot more time and energy in rescuing the blue hedgehog from Eggman's clutches than what they had originally anticipated. Especially since he had to be talked into it in the first place.

"Shadow, I'm going to get some supplies from the shops downstairs. I'll be a few minutes, ok?"

Said hedgehog shifted one of his legs to get up. "I'll help-"

"No, you shouldn't get up. You have Sonic after all. I'll be fine."

"Alright." The dark one replied and sunk deeper into the chair.

When he heard the front door close and lock, he decided to take a rest while she was gone, giving his tired muscles a chance to relax. He glanced down at the little one still sleeping in his arm before lying back, tilting the chair in the process. He didn't even realize that he'd fallen asleep…

Until he felt a rough pinch on his left ear. Shadow blinked a few times as he woke up from his nap. As he woke up, he felt a nasty tug on the ear.

"Huh?!" He barked angrily, trying to find the culprit. That was when he noticed that Sonic was gone from his arm. Realizing what was pulling on his triangle ear, he carefully grabbed the soft little body of the tiny hedgehog who had somehow managed to climb up on his shoulder while the older hedgehog had been sleeping.

Shadow tried to pull the little one away from his head, but Sonic still gripped his ear tightly in one hand, making the adult tilt his head in annoyance.

Shadow then heard the front door opening, and presently Rouge entered the kitchen. She was carrying a lot of bags.

"What's all that?" Shadow asked while trying to get his left ear back from the surprisingly strong little hand.

"Just the essentials," answered the bat lightly while placing several full and heavy looking bags on the counter. "We might need to get some more supplies tomorrow if I haven't tracked down the doctor. You'll find instructions on all the products, so I'm sure you can figure things out. Good luck, honey."

"Wait! You're leaving me with him again?!" Shadow exclaimed when he realized Rouge was already heading toward the balcony while spreading her wings.

"Sorry, but we need to find Eggman fast before he can cause any more trouble and I'm the only one of us who knows this town and where he might be likely to hide. I'll be back for you as soon as I find out where he is or by morning, whichever comes first, meanwhile you two bad boys will just have to behave yourself, okay?"

Shadow, who had just reclaimed his ear, reluctantly replied with a sullen 'okay'.

"Just promise me you'll take good care of little blue and make sure he's unharmed and well when I return," she said while gently petting the youngest hedgehog on the head.

"I promise, just get back…" was all Shadow had time to say before Rouge turned and took off into the sky.

"…soon," he finished while looking at the quickly shrinking silhouette of the bat disappearing into the night.


	5. Chapter 4: Just You and Me

**I'll Protect You** (by RAWN and Shaunatheboss)

 **Chapter 4: Just you and me**

Shadow lingered a little while at the balcony looking at the clear night sky. The air was cold and crisp and although Shadow found it refreshing, the little one in his arms had nuzzled into his chest-fur for warmth while shivering slightly. The older hedgehog turned around with a low humph, went inside and closed the door to the balcony after himself. Then he gently placed Sonic on the floor and headed over to the kitchen where Rouge had placed all the baby equipment. He started by unpacking everything and spread it all out on the counter.

"'Just the essentials' she said, huh?" he scratched behind an ear, wondering how something so small could need so much for such a short time.

Deciding to start with the things that needed assembling, while ignoring the numerous smaller products he couldn't immediately recognize what were for later, he picked up a big flat box marked 'play pen'.

After assembling the playpen, Shadow took a step back to admire the result. He thought it looked like a brightly colored roofless cage. "Heh, seems suitable enough for you, Little Faker," he said and turned his head toward where he had put down the little hedgehog, only now the little hedgehog was gone...

His jaw dropped, but he quickly composed himself. Sonic had seemed unable to crawl properly when he had put him down so he couldn't have gotten far, right? He started looking around the living room, especially beneath the chairs and coffee table, but couldn't find as much as a blue quill. He was just about to go back to the kitchen to see if he somehow had followed him there when he heard a tiny excited squeak. It sounded like it came from the bed room. When he got to the door he noticed it wasn't entirely closed and had a big enough gap for a small hedgehog to slip through so he opened it up to have a look under the only possible hiding place in there. He went down on all four and peeked under the bed.

Shadow growled as he bent down, still feeling tired and not enjoying playing hide and seek one bit. Looking under the bed he saw the small hedgehog, who squeaked happily once he saw the bigger hedgehog. He was curled up under the middle of the bed, making it hard for the adult to reach him. After trying and failing to reach him and his attempt at trying to order the hedghoglet to come out had absolutely no effect, he simply grabbed the bed and tilted it so it stood on its side. Sonic blinked in surprise at the sudden loss of cover before showing Shadow exactly how he had been able to get around so fast. He hadn't crawled like Shadow had assumed. He had rolled.

And now a blue ball was quickly rolling out of the room.

"Oh no, you don't!" Shadow uttered as he leapt towards the ball only to miss and fall face first onto the wooden floor.  
Groaning from pain, he watched the ball roll into the corridor. He rubbed his face, got up and went after it.

The little ball had rolled his way back to the living room where he abruptly was stopped when he hit one of the table legs of the coffee table. Sonic uncurled himself and put a small hand on his head. Suddenly, he was lifted up by the scruff of his neck by two firm fingers.

"Caught you!" Shadow smirked triumphantly at the now subdued hedgehog who hung in a half curled up fashion that resembled a kitten being carried by its scruff. Sonic started to feel the pain from bumping his head and his look of surprise started to shift into a frown and his eyes started to look watery.

Shadow looked a little confused upon seeing the sudden shift in the pup's expression, until he heard a soft whimper.  
The adult instantly knew what that meant.

"Don't."  
The whimper started to increase in pitch.

"Don't." He said a little more firmly.  
But the baby's sounds soon went into sobs and hiccups.

"Please, don't." Shadow now begged with a worried expression.

The baby started to bawl. Shadow responded by holding him as far away from himself as his arm allowed. He hastily looked around and noticed the playpen. He put the loud little creature in the playpen so he could get a good grip on both ears to shut the high-pitched noise out.  
"Now what am I supposed to do?" He thought desperately.

The noise was making it hard to think. For a quick solution to save his hearing, he ran into the bathroom and reached for the cabinet above the sink. He found some cotton balls and stuffed a couple of them into his ears. Now that his sensitive ears had been taken care of, he approached the crying baby so he could check that he hadn't injured his head. After a quick inspection he found a small bump, but luckily no wound.

"Hopefully Rouge won't notice it," Shadow mumbled. The thought of the bat gave him an idea. He went for the kitchen to see if she by any chance had thought of buying a pacifier. After a quick search, he found one and hurried back.

"Here you go." Shadow replied to the still crying hedgehog and slipped the pacifier into his mouth.  
Sonic fell silent and cocked his head in confusion. To him, it felt and tasted funny, until he slowly started to suck on it.

Shadow sighed in relief and removed the cotton from his ears and then gently dried away the tears from the little one's cheeks with a gloved finger. Then he was pleased to see that the little hedgehog's eyelids seemed to grow heavy as if he was about to fall asleep. "That's better, you get some sleep while I go and see what else Rouge left us."

Shadow then left the hedgehog before heading over to the kitchen counter to see what else he could find. He picked up a box with milk formula and a bottle. He wasn't sure how often a baby should feed nor did he know when Sonic last might have fed, but he was certain he would need this sooner or later so he decided to figure out how to make milk before the tiny terror woke up.

It took a few minutes for Shadow to figure out how to make a bottle, but as soon as he succeeded, he headed over to the playpen.

Sonic had been taking a nap while Shadow was busy making him food but woke up when he heard someone approach him. "Here," Shadow said and promptly placed the bottle in front of the little hedgehog.

Sonic clumsily sat up, while rubbing one sleepy eye and as soon as he saw the bottle, he sniffed at it. Sure, he could smell the warm milk, but how could he possibly reach it? He looked at Shadow questioningly.

"What's wrong?" Shadow asked him. "It was the only type of food I could find in the bags Rouge left us so it's that or nothing." Sonic didn't understand a word of what the older hedgehog said, but the smell of food was making him hungry. He made a displeased whimper and looked pleadingly up at the adult.

Shadow couldn't believe this. Sonic could grab his nose and his ear. Why should a bottle be a problem? He groaned in annoyance. He didn't want another bawling session. "I swear, Rouge is going to do all the feeds once she returns."  
He bent down and picked up the baby and the bottle and headed over to the couch. He sat down while holding Sonic on one arm and put the teat in front of the hedghoglet's mouth.

At first, Sonic refused, until he felt a drop running down his muzzle. He then opened his mouth and began to drink.

"There, that wasn't so hard now was it?" Shadow had so far been very uncomfortable with the whole situation and felt really awkward while handling the baby, though sitting on the couch while feeding the little one felt oddly relaxing and he liked the silence. The only sound he could hear was the tiny hedgehog suckling in a kind of rhythm until he'd finished and pulled away from the teat.

"Done already?" Shadow was slightly impressed that the entire content of the bottle could fit in such a small body. However, he noticed that some of it had spilled and gotten the fur on Sonic's now slightly protruding tummy wet and sticky. Not to mention his quills had gotten somewhat dusty after rolling around under the bed.

Shadow sighed heavily. He didn't mind Sonic looking like this, but he had a sneaking suspicion that the bat would mind.

The dark one then got up and placed the blue one back into the playpen for a few minutes, while he drew a small bath in the bathroom sink which he deemed to be of suitable size for someone so small.  
As Sonic watched the adult leave, he wondered where he was going and made a few curious sounds in the lack of being able to ask.

Shadow went to find a bottle of baby shampoo and then he went to pick up the little hedgehog. On his way he suddenly realized something. Sonic had aquaphobia…  
Did he always have it? Or was it something that developed when he got older? Either way he was about to find out.

He turned into the living room where the playpen was situated, only to find it baby-less.  
Shadow stared blankly at it for a few seconds.

"There's no way my luck is this bad," he groaned, before playing hide and seek once again.

"You can't even crawl for Chaos sake! How did you get out?" Shadow growled in frustration after a few minutes of fruitless searching. "Where have you rolled off to now?"  
He searched and searched, but the little hedgehog was nowhere to be found neither in the living room, bedroom, kitchen, or hallway.

That was when he heard a few amplified squeaks coming from another room. Shadow instantly knew where Sonic was because there was only one room where an echo could be produced.

He rushed to the bathroom and pulled open the door. Sonic was sitting in the middle of the floor. His distressed calls ceased and was happily wagging his small blue tail upon seeing Shadow. 'He must have followed me before without me noticing he thought. "Well..." Shadow said while stepping inside and closing the door behind him "...you're not going anywhere before you're clean now. C'mere," he said and picked up Sonic who seemed to catch on that something was up and gave the older hedgehog an insecure look, as if trying to figure out what was going on.

Sonic was curiously looking around everywhere while in Shadow's arms. The one thing he didn't see was the water in the sink. That was until the Ultimate Lifeform placed one of his elbows into the water to make sure that the bath wasn't too hot for the infant.

When Sonic noticed the water, he didn't really know what to make out of it. Shadow slowly lowered Sonic into the water hoping that the little one wouldn't panic and start crying.

The first limbs to enter the water were his paws and legs. To say that Sonic was surprised was an understatement, as he became wide eyed upon entering the water. Even Shadow was surprised; Sonic was absolutely silent as his lower body became wet.

He proceeded to put him down in a sitting position in the sink. The water almost reached Sonic to the chest and, somehow, he was still perfectly calm. 'I guess that answers that question then. I wonder what happened to make you so scared of water when you're older...' Shadow mused while covering the little fur ball with shampoo and being careful not to get any of it in his eyes or mouth.

Before rinsing, he noticed Sonic's ears twitch every now and again and he had closed his eyes in pleasure. Not only was he not afraid of water, he was actually enjoying his bath.  
Shadow rinsed off all the soap, lifted Sonic out of the water and placed him on the sink's counter top. Then he wrapped him in a towel and picked up a fur-drier he found in a shelf above the sink to dry him off. The little hedgehog was curious about the new object. Shadow turned on the drier. The noise took Sonic by surprise and the blast of warm air almost caused him to fall over.

"Sorry," Shadow said and decreased the intensity on the drier. Sonic still didn't like the sound of it and curled into a fluffy ball with a displeased little grunt.

"You still have to be dried, otherwise you'll catch a cold," Shadow replied gently before placing his fingers in to the gaps, where small hedgehog quills hadn't yet grown to protect sensitive places, in order to pry Sonic out of his defensive ball. When Shadow accidently pressed on some skin, he thought he'd heard a shriek, but it was in fact a startled giggle. For a moment he stood there dumbfounded before a sly smile slowly started to widen across his face. "So..." he said with a playful tone while placing his hands with fingers ready next to the curled up fluffball's sides "... you're ticklish." The little ball started to feel uneasy, evident by the fully raised quills pointing in every direction. Well... only almost every direction.

Sonic wasn't exactly sure what was going on, especially since he couldn't see outside his ball. It wasn't until Shadow pressed down, before he was reduced to a fit of giggles.

Unable to remain in his defensive ball, Sonic uncurled into a sitting position. Shadow stopped his tickle attack to let the little one get a chance to catch his breath. Still a little unsteady from giggling, Sonic had to grab a hold of Shadow's hand for support so he wouldn't lose his balance and fall on his side.

When Shadow was done drying the blue hedgehog he couldn't help but smile at how poofy the little hedgehog's fur had gotten.

The ebony hedgehog brought out his cell phone, which he had stored between his quills, to take a picture of this fluffy sight as he was sure it would be good blackmail material should he ever need it. The phone was otherwise useless in this timeline as he noticed it didn't pick up any signal. That meant he couldn't get in touch with Rouge if he needed it.

Shadow put away his phone and looked back at the blue poof ball.

"Heh, better fix that," Shadow said with a low chuckle. He found a comb in a drawer under the sink. He placed the comb on the blue one's back before moving downward. Sonic turned his head and looked questioningly at the bigger hedgehog.

"Hold still," Shadow said while brushing the fur. Sonic kept moving his head to try and see and started to tip to one side so the adult had to hold him in place so the little hedgehog's uncoordinated curiosity wouldn't make him fall. The blue and peach colored fur was brushed until it looked normal again. He couldn't help but notice Sonic was purring when he brushed some places, like behind the ears, or on his tummy. The hedgehoglet seemed to wonder why he stopped once he was done. Shadow picked up a package of diapers. Sonic hadn't had one on him when they had rescued him from Eggman and Mobians generally didn't need 'to go' as often as humans, but since Rouge had bought them he assumed it would be wise to rather be safe than sorry. He opened the package and took one out. At first, he didn't know what was up and down on the thing, until he noticed a small hole he figured had to be for the tail. After a few minutes of struggling, Shadow had finally succeeded in getting the diaper on the tiny hedgehog. At least there'd be no accidents during the night, he thought. He glanced up at the clock and noticed it was getting quite late.  
"Hmm, time for you to go to sleep," the adult said and picked up the little one.

He went into the living room to fetch the playpen and placed it in a small empty room he had discovered next to the bedroom. He placed Sonic in it and went to find a few more objects. A small pillow and blanket, a yellow stuffed toy fox that resembled Tails except it only had one tail, and baby monitors. He switched on the baby monitors and placed the rest of the things next to Sonic, who looked slightly displeased about being left alone, even if it wasn't for long, until he saw the stuffed toy which he seemed to take an immediate liking to and hugged it tightly.

Shadow didn't know how Sonic had gotten out of the play pen before, but he wasn't getting out of the room if the door was shut close, which the adult made sure it was.

He placed the second monitor on a nightstand when he got back to the bedroom.

Since there was nothing else for him to do but wait for Rouge to return and he realized just how tired he was, he lifted the bed he had previously put on its side down again so he could lay down and get some much-needed sleep.

He fell asleep faster than he realized.

However, a few minutes later the baby monitor sparked to life and promptly woke him up with loud crying sounds. He sighed tiredly and got up.

He got the feeling that it was going to be a long night.


	6. Chapter 5: Family

**I'll Protect You** (by RAWN and Shaunatheboss)

 **Chapter 5: Family**

Rouge had been searching for any evidence that might have led her to whatever location Eggman may have crawled off to after they had successfully rescued Sonic from him. She had travelled around almost the entire city, but the doctor had disappeared without a trace. His hovercraft had sustained a considerable amount of damage from Shadow's chaos spear and would no doubt require repairs. She wasn't certain if the doctor had spotted the Ultimate Lifeform before and discovered that he had tagged along on this unusual venture. She knew it was important to find the evil scientist as soon as possible, especially since she knew that the dark hedgehog's patience was limited and most likely already beginning to wane. Flying around during day time however, would attract too much unwanted attention. She also needed to rest her aching wings and check how the boys were getting along without her.  
Soon, she spotted the apartment they had rented and landed on the balcony. The door was locked so she decided to give Shadow a signal to indicate that it was her and not a threat. She rapped on the glass and did a particular knock-knock code that she and the hedgehog had previously agreed to.

While she was waiting for a few seconds, she could swear that she heard some low growls coming from inside the apartment. That was when the door was suddenly pushed open from the opposite side.

Rouge was met with the grumpiest looking hedgehog she had ever laid eyes upon. Shadow's quills looked to be in complete disarray and she could tell by the dark purple rings under his slightly bloodshot eyes that he had not gotten a wink of sleep during her absence.

"Morning, Rouge." Shadow grumbled and then yawned loudly. "Did you find the doctor's location?"

The bat composed herself as she realized she was staring with her mouth open.  
"No such luck, I'm afraid. Eggman must be hiding somewhere in this city. I've searched through over half of it so far, but I need another night to cover the rest," Rouge answered with a sigh.  
"But, um… how have you two been doing?" She asked hesitantly in order to change the subject.

Shadow glared, the darker eyes making him look that more intimidating. "Wonderful, especially if you love to listen to a crying hoglet all through the night." He sarcastically grumbled.  
He then held out the baby to Rouge. "He's your problem now. I'm going to bed for a while."

Rouge accepted the baby who yawned in a cute way and looked like he was about to fall asleep.  
"Uh, Honey? I think you should do us all a favor and take a nice, warm shower before bed," she said when she noticed something on the ebony hedgehog's shoulder while he was turning towards the bedroom.

Shadow looked over his shoulder and noticed the disgusting white stain, where only black fur should've been.  
He groaned, while rolling his eyes. "I thought I got it all...little puke-machine."

Rouge looked down at the tired little hedgehog in her arms who could barely keep his eyes open.  
"Aww, have you too been awake all night long?" She asked softly and petted him gently on the head to help him doze off. While stroking his head she felt a little lump she was sure he didn't have previously.  
"Shadow?" She asked in an icy, cold tone, while still maintaining a pleasant enough level to not disturb the now sleeping hoglet in her arms.  
Said hedgehog froze in his tracks.  
"How did he get this bump on the head?"

"Uh, well, you see... he kind of rolled away while I was trying to fix the playpen...and then he rolled into the coffee table." The Ultimate Lifeform explained and hoped that his words were at least convincing to the bat.

Rouge did not look impressed but decided to let this one slide for now.  
"Just go get a shower… and then some sleep. I'll look after Sonic for a few hours until you're functional again," she said with an exasperated sigh at the end.

Shadow decided to leave quickly and quietly, once the bat had turned away, not intending to face Rouge's wrath, especially if he woke the baby. He headed to the bathroom and took a long hot shower. Once he was dry, he felt that most of his muscles had lost their tension, making him even sleepier than before.  
He immediately flopped onto the bed and felt himself relax. He fell asleep before he could even count to three.

After cooling down, Rouge decided to take a quick nap on the couch. She wrapped herself up in her wings, using them as a blanket and to keep Sonic safely tucked into her, so that he wouldn't accidentally fall off if he woke up before her and tried moving around.

Rouge was the first to wake up, from her nap. That was when she noticed that the blue infant was sucking on part of her wing.

She noticed he was still sleeping while doing this, and she smiled at how cute he looked. The bat decided to get up and make him a bottle of milk, as she suspected he might be hungry when he woke up.  
A few minutes later, the little hedgehog was awake and happy to have his bottle ready and immediately started to feed. When he was done, Rouge made sure to have a towel on her shoulder when burping the baby, so as to not repeat Shadow's unpleasant mishap.  
She then looked at the time and noticed it was almost noon.  
"You know what I think?" She asked the little one who looked at her with his curious emerald eyes. "I think it's time we woke up that old grump-hog and go shopping for some more supplies, whaddya think?" She said cheerfully.

While holding the infant, she quietly opened the bedroom door and noticed Shadow's sleeping form beneath the blankets. He was also snoring softly.  
She smiled empathetically, as she felt a little bad, because she had to wake him up. But who said that it technically should be her?

She placed the baby next to Shadow and took a step back while waiting for the inevitable, biting her lower lip with an expectant grin on her face.

When Sonic realized who he was sitting in front of, he immediately leaned over onto the other one's larger head.  
Rouge covered her mouth with one of her gloves in order to suppress a giggle.

The little hedgehog grabbed onto the only thing that could fit into his little hand. Shadow's nose. Said hedgehog immediately woke up, startled.

Rouge couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing at the Ultimate Lifeform's reaction.

Said dark hedgehog immediately saw Sonic hanging onto his nose and placed his larger hands beneath him to catch the blue one. Once he was successful, he regained his composure from being concerned to a deadpan look.  
"Not funny, Rouge."

"Aww, lighten up. You got your rest, didn't you? Now fix those quills. I need you."

Shadow groaned, before handing the little one to her, and then got up from the bed.  
"What for?" He then inquired.

"We're going shopping and I need someone to carry the bags. And before you start protesting, your only other option is staying here as a babysitter," Rouge replied before adding a bit dryly in a lower tone. "And we know how well that went the last time I left you two alone."

Shadow growled softly, knowing he indeed didn't want a repeat of last night. But as long as Rouge was the baby-sitter this time, he didn't mind carrying a few bags around.  
"Fine, but just wondering, I thought you said you got all the essential stuff. So, what's next on our list?"

"We need more baby equipment, but before that we may need some new clothes that are satisfactory of this timeline, so that we don't attract too much attention and we can pass as a normal looking family. I also want to return to the hospital, so that we can uncover why Sonic was there in the first place. He doesn't look like it, but for all we know he could be sick and require medical attention as soon as possible."

Shadow nodded softly at this. He hadn't noticed any indications of Sonic being sick, but what now interested him was the fact that the child was in the hospital at the time they rescued him. He wasn't a new-born, so clearly something else was up.  
"So, is there a clothes department in the vicinity?"

"Yes. I saw a clothes store on my way back here; it's just a couple of blocks down the street." Rouge replied as she pointed out the window.

"Well, let's get ready." Shadow mumbled, before taking the small hedgehog out of the bat's arms and placing him in a stroller.

...

Shortly after, they were at the store. It appeared really busy at this time of day. The shelves and stalls were filled with all kinds of colorful clothes.  
"Go see if you can find yourself something casual to wear. I'll take Sonic and find something suitable for us to wear too," Rouge said and rolled away with the stroller toward the women's department.

Shadow was about to ask a question, but the bat had disappeared so fast, he thought for a moment that she had suddenly become Sonic. With the unlimited money they had, he didn't doubt that Rouge would go overboard with clothes for herself.  
The Ultimate Lifeform then set off for the men's department. After a few minutes he growled in agitation. He'd never needed clothes before, besides gloves and socks, so finding a suitable outfit was going to be a struggle. In the end, he just grabbed a piece of clothing and went looking for Rouge.

He found her as she was walking out of one of the dressing rooms. She was wearing blue jeans and an elegant light purple blouse. It was an unusually subtle look for her, but it fit her nicely.

Shadow looked a little surprised at the bat's new outfit, before regaining his composure and strolled over.  
"I couldn't decide." The adult hedgehog lied. "Do you think these are alright?" He added as he showed her the clothes.

It was just a red short sleeved shirt, but Rouge hadn't expected too much of Shadow since she couldn't really recall having seen him wear anything but his usual gloves and shoes.  
"Yes, it'll do, but find a tie to go with it. Meanwhile I'll find something for Sonic. He may need a disguise since I'm sure someone will be looking for him since he was kidnapped," Rouge replied and headed for the baby department.

Shadow grabbed the closest tie that he could find. He decided that black went well with red, just like his fur. He then headed towards the baby department to find Rouge and Sonic.

When he got there, Rouge was just about to pay for the clothes and waved Shadow over so she could pay for his as well. He went over and handed what he had to her. He then noticed that Rouge had collected about four bags worth of clothes for herself. He raised an eye ridge at this. He wasn't sure how long they would have to stay in this dimension, but he assumed that the bat wouldn't be able to wear her entire wardrobe in that time, not to mention bring them back with her. He then glanced up and to his surprise, he recognized the cashier. It was a teenage female rabbit he knew to be Cream's mother. He couldn't remember her name, but he sometimes enjoyed the company of her child who was one of the few who wasn't afraid of him and even showed him kindness despite his somewhat checkered past. He then realized that the little rabbit child he knew wasn't even born yet.

Rouge then payed for the clothes and started placing the bags onto the handles of the pram.  
Shadow was a little surprised that no one had noticed the small blue hedgehog accompanying them so far and decided to glance into the pram to see what the bat had gotten him. When he saw the infant, he practically recoiled from surprise.

Sonic was now wearing a white one-piece bodysuit, with a hood, that also had room for his ears. The suit had pink paw prints on the inside of the palms and under his feet and a pink bow behind one of the ears on the hood. At least now he didn't look like a blue hedgehog, but a white one instead. This was going to make it so much easier to pass him off as their child and make them officially appear as a normal family.

"Cute." Shadow sarcastically huffed with a deadpan expression.  
Sonic seemed to have a confused look as he tried to find his hands and paws, which had now disappeared to be replaced with these white 'things'. That was until he saw the adult hedgehog once again and squeaked happily.

The sound caught the attention of the rabbit.  
"Aww, what a sweet little girl," Vanilla cooed delightedly at the baby with a friendly smile. "I really do hope I'll get one myself someday."  
Rouge immediately played along. "I'm sure you will. It's such a joy to have one. Right, Honey?" She said and lightly bumped her elbow into Shadow's arm for a response as he seemed to have frozen up.

"Um, of course." Shadow hesitantly replied. "Make sure to raise her well."

"I will. Have a nice day and please come again," Vanilla replied with a warm smile.  
Rouge wished her a good day and turned the pram to leave.  
When they had gotten outside, the bat sighed in relief.  
"We've got to be more careful! I had no idea we'd bump into someone we know just like that. Luckily, I don't think we said anything that could alter her life. I believe we were just normal customers to her."

"You're right. It's just like what the fox said: If we do anything bad here that changes the timeline, we won't know the effects until we return."  
"What's next on our list?" Shadow then asked to change the subject.

"Well, now that we blend in and know that Sonic's disguise works, we can head to the hospital and I can see if I can find out why little Blue was there," Rouge answered.

"Alright." Shadow replied.  
As they headed there, said hedgehog briefly wondered how things were back in their own timeline. Surely the fox would be wondering what was taking them so long.

After a short walk through a park, they had reached the hospital. They looked at the towering building. A couple of workmen were already working on fixing the damaged window on the seventh floor.  
"At least we know which floor to go to," Rouge said before adding, "I need you to make sure I'm not discovered when I break into their archives. If anyone asks what you're there for, just say that your wife is visiting her mother and you felt like stretching your legs."

"Understood." Shadow replied.  
As Rouge took off into the building alone, the hedgehog gave her a minute head-start before heading in with Sonic.

Rouge entered an elevator and pressed the button with the number seven on it. When she reached her floor, she quickly found the room she was looking for. As luck would have it, a young brown furred male dog in a white doctor's coat walked out of the room and locked the door with a key before heading in her direction. Just when they were about to pass each other, she made sure to 'accidentally' bump into him with her shoulder. The canine dropped a few papers he was carrying.  
"Oh no! I'm so sorry! Let me help you with those," Rouge exclaimed and bent down to help the doctor picking up his papers.  
At first the dog had looked upset, but his expression changed quickly when he laid eyes upon the beautiful white bat who smiled apologetically while picking up some of the dropped papers.

"Oh, no, it's nothing to worry about. It's my fault really. Things just have been awfully busy lately, especially with all the construction on this level."

When everything had been picked up, she handed what she had gathered to the canine. "Yes, I heard a madman kidnapped a poor little baby. Do you know if the police have caught him yet?"

"There was no evidence found in the room unfortunately, so the police have no leads yet on the kidnapper." That was when his face turned sad. "That poor child. I really hope that the kidnapper won't harm him."  
The bat gave him a sympathetic look.  
"Anyway, I'm just here to see my brother's new baby girl. Could you be so kind to point me in the right direction?" Rouge asked with an innocent little smile.

"Sure thing! The nursery is on the other side of this floor!" He replied eagerly. "I'll show you the way."

"Thank you, but I think I can find it on my own though. You're probably busy and I don't want to steal any more of your time," Rouge said.  
The dog looked a little disappointed.

"May I have your name and number please? There's a nice restaurant not too far from here… my treat," he tried.

"The name's Rouge, but I don't think my husband would approve of me sharing any number nor dinner with a handsome doctor. Sorry, Sweetie," Rouge lied and blew him a kiss before turning to leave.

She soon arrived at said office. As she looked inside, she saw files upon files of documents.

Snatching the key from the doctor had been easy. Finding what she was looking for would be the hard part. She had seen Shadow come out of the elevator at the other end of the corridor before sneaking into the office, so she would at least get a warning if anyone was heading her way.  
Rouge looked through some of the files to get an idea on how they were sorted. She quickly realized that they were not sorted by names (probably due to parents who hadn't decided on what to call their new-born babies), but description of species and then colors. Hedgehogs weren't as common as certain other species, so this helped narrowing down the search considerably, especially since the color blue was very rare, regardless of species.  
"There you are!" She whispered triumphantly when she found a paper that read:

Species: Hedgehog  
Gender: Male  
Color / Description: Blue and peach colored fur, Green eyes

She immediately folded the paper, once she knew that it was the right one and hid it in one of the pockets on her jeans. The rest of Sonic's information could be read later. Then, she left the room and locked it. On her way toward Shadow, she dropped the key around the area where she had bumped into the dog.

"Did you find it?" Shadow asked from one side of the bench that they were currently sitting on. He was gently pushing and pulling the pram, because Sonic had fallen asleep and he wanted to help keep him that way for as long as possible.

Rouge nodded. "We should leave before the doctor I 'borrowed' a key from returns," she said. "Any trouble while I was gone?"

"No. Sonic was silent as I walked through the halls, I checked on him a few minutes ago and realized he'd fallen asleep. No one seemed suspicious."

"Good, let's go and buy some food and baby stuff then. I think I saw a supermarket on the opposite side of the park in front of the hospital," Rouge said while taking over the pram and headed back to the elevator.

...

They soon arrived at the supermarket. Rouge went in, while Shadow waited outside with Sonic.  
The black hedgehog knew that the bat would probably head out again tonight in search of Eggman and thought it might be a good idea to get some sleep when they got back to the apartment, while he still had the chance, as he had a sneaking suspicion that Sonic would stay up all night, especially if he continued to take frequent naps during the day.

A pair of yellow furred flying squirrels who were coming out of the supermarket stopped in front of them. The female squirrel looked at Sonic, who was now awake and curious about the new strangers in front of him. "She's so cute! How old is she?" The squirrel asked Shadow, who was slightly surprised by being talked to by complete strangers. That rarely ever happened. Most people found him too intimidating to converse to.

He then decided to answer, but without revealing too much information. "She's a month old."

"Aww, she looks so much like her daddy," the lady commented. The male squirrel nodded in agreement. "Indeed, you must be so proud," he said in a friendly fashion to the hedgehog before they said goodbye and left.

With their backs turned, Shadow glared at them before sighing in relief. That was when his attention was caught by a little squeak.  
"What?" The adult asked.

Sonic reached his hands, which with the suit on looked like little paws, toward the Ultimate Lifeform signaling that he wanted to get up and out of the pram.

The dark one groaned before reaching over and picking the hoglet up out of the pram and placing him on his chest. The infant seemed slightly confused about the clothes covering the white fluffy fur he had previously enjoyed nuzzling into but was otherwise happy about being picked up.

Rouge came out through the sliding doors with two full bags. When she saw Shadow with Sonic in his arms she couldn't help but smile. It looked like someone wasn't as hard on the inside as he was on the outside after all.  
"Hey boys. Ready to head home to the apartment?" She asked her partner.


End file.
